Brooklyn Crime Rate

Thanks for visiting Federal Lawyers – managed by our lead attorney, a second-generation law firm with over 40 years of combined experience defending clients across Brooklyn and New York City. Brooklyn just experienced its safest year on record for gun violence. In 2024, Brooklyn recorded **287 shooting incidents** – the lowest since record-keeping began, beating the previous low of 290 shootings in 2019. **345 shooting victims** in 2024, down 14% from 2023, marking the fewest victims on record. Homicides dropped 6%. The first half of 2025 continued the trend: shooting incidents down 19%, shooting victims down 15%, and eight of Brooklyn’s twenty-three precincts reported *zero homicides*.

Yet when you’re charged with a crime in Brooklyn, prosecutors don’t cite 2024-2025’s historic safety. They reference the pandemic surge. They cite neighborhood-specific crime rates if you were arrested in Brownsville or East New York. They invoke hate crime increases if your case involves protected categories. Statistical narratives serve prosecutorial strategy – declining crime should reduce charging aggression, but prosecutors claim credit for improvements while maintaining the same harsh approach toward defendants. When crime statistics become political tools rather than evidence of actual threat levels, defendants need attorneys who force prosecutors to justify charging decisions based on current reality, not selective data manipulation.

What the 2024-2025 Numbers Actually Show

Brooklyn’s 2024 crime statistics represent historic lows for gun violence:

• **Shooting incidents:** 287 in 2024, down 15% from 338 in 2023. This beat the previous record low of 290 shootings in 2019.
• **Shooting victims:** 345 in 2024, down 14% from 399 in 2023. This marked 18 fewer victims than the previous low of 363 recorded in 2019.
• **Homicides:** Down 6% compared to 2023, with particularly steep declines in neighborhoods traditionally associated with gun violence – East New York homicides dropped 48%, East Flatbush fell 41%, Fort Greene declined 50%.
• **Total serious crime:** Down 5.9% borough-wide.

The first half of 2025 extended these improvements. Brooklyn recorded 123 shooting incidents (down 19% from the same period in 2024) and 147 shooting victims (down 15%). Eight precincts reported zero homicides in the first half of 2025, compared to only three precincts at the same time in 2024. Brownsville – historically one of Brooklyn’s most dangerous neighborhoods – saw murders drop from 14 to just 2.

These aren’t marginal improvements or statistical flukes. Brooklyn achieved the safest year on record for gun violence, surpassing even pre-pandemic lows. When prosecutors charge firearms offenses, assault, robbery, or homicide, they should acknowledge that Brooklyn is safer now than at any point in recent history. Do they? No. They invoke pandemic-era spikes, reference five-year trends that include 2020-2021’s anomalous increases, or shift focus to specific neighborhoods where crime remains elevated compared to borough-wide averages.

DEFENSE TEAM SPOTLIGHT

Todd Spodek

Lead Attorney & Founder

Featured on Netflix's "Inventing Anna," Todd Spodek brings decades of high-stakes criminal defense experience. His aggressive approach has secured dismissals and acquittals in cases others deemed unwinnable.

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Meet the Full Team

Legal Scenario: What Would You Do?

Scenario

You live in a Brooklyn neighborhood where crime rates have dropped significantly, yet you were recently arrested during a police stop-and-frisk operation that officers justified by claiming the area is a 'high-crime zone.' You believe the stop was unlawful because the neighborhood's crime statistics no longer support that designation.

Can the police still use a 'high-crime area' justification to stop and frisk me in a Brooklyn neighborhood where crime has drastically decreased?

Attorney's Answer

Under Terry v. Ohio, officers need reasonable articulable suspicion to conduct a stop-and-frisk, and while being in a high-crime area is one factor courts consider, it cannot be the sole basis for a stop. With Brooklyn recording its lowest shooting incidents on record in 2024, a defense attorney can challenge the 'high-crime area' characterization by presenting updated NYPD CompStat data showing the neighborhood's improved safety profile. New York's CPL § 140.50 governs temporary detentions, and if officers relied exclusively on an outdated crime-area designation without observing specific suspicious conduct, any evidence recovered during the frisk could be suppressed under the exclusionary rule. We would file a motion to suppress under Mapp v. Ohio and argue that the stop violated your Fourth Amendment rights given the current crime data for your neighborhood.

This is general information only. Contact us for advice specific to your situation.

Neighborhood Disparities Prosecutors Exploit

Brooklyn’s overall crime rate of 3.69-4.37 violent crimes per 1,000 residents masks enormous neighborhood variation. Crime rates in southeast Brooklyn reach as low as 1 in 532, while northwest neighborhoods see rates as high as 1 in 149. When you’re charged with a crime, prosecutors leverage these disparities strategically. Arrested in Brownsville, East New York, or Bed-Stuy? Prosecutors cite that neighborhood’s historical crime rates – even though Brownsville’s 2025 murders dropped from 14 to 2, they’ll reference prior years’ statistics to argue you pose heightened community danger.